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‘Lazy’, because the last thing you want on a warm summer’s evening is to be rushing around the kitchen getting hot and bothered while your guests are sitting out in the garden sipping chilled wine. Everything in this splendid summer menu can be made the day before leaving you free to enjoy the evening along with your guests.
Starter: Salmon and monkfish terrine with lemon and mustard mayonnaise
This is a truly magnificent and very impressive-looking dish that is bound to wow your guests. The use of two different coloured fishes stuffed with their two different purées produces an amazing effect in cross section. A bit like a Battenburg cake.
Ingredients – the finished terrine will yield about 12 portions
You will need a terrine dish or cake tin about 10 x 3 x 3 inches
10 – 12 cold pancakes
600g skinned and boned monkfish
600g skinned and boned salmon
200g peas
200g asparagus
100ml double cream
25g powdered gelatine
Salt and white pepper
Method
Begin by making the pancakes ( you can make these the day before you make the terrine, or even earlier and freeze them – separated by greaseproof paper and wrapped in side a polythene bag).
This recipe makes about 20 pancakes of approx 5 inches across
100g plain flour
1 egg plus one egg yolk
A pinch of salt
300ml cold milk
15g melted butter
Put the flour and salt into a bowl. Mix the egg and egg yolk into the milk and whisk half this mixture into the flour. Whisk in the melted butter and then the rest of the egg and milk. Whisk until smooth and creamy. Cover with a cloth and set aside for 30 minutes. Cook the pancakes one at a time in a hot pan smeared with a little oil. Pour a tablespoon of the batter into the pan and use the back of the spoon to spread the batter into a thin circle – as soon as one side is cooked, flip over and cook the other side. Separate each pancake with a piece of greaseproof paper and cover your stack with a tea towel.
Lightly grease your terrine dish and line with overlapping pancakes making sure there is enough hanging over the edges to cover the top.
Your fish fillets should be the same length as the terrine dish. You will have two tapering monkfish fillets and one piece of salmon fillet that you need to cut lengthways into two. Use a very sharp knife to cut horizontally three quarters of the way through the fillets so that you can open them up to lie flat.
Cook the peas and the asparagus in separate pans, liquidise each separately adding half the cream to each purée then pass them through a fine sieve. While still hot, beat half the powdered gelatine into each purée then set them aside to cool.
Season the insides of the fish fillets and carefully spread the pea purée down the centre of the monkfish fillets and do the same with the asparagus purée in the salmon. Carefully refold the fillets to encase the purées. Place a monkfish fillet and a salmon fillet side by side in the bottom of the lined terrine. For the second layer, put the monkfish fillet on top of the salmon and the salmon on top of the monkfish. Fold the pancakes over to completely encase the fish. Cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper and then the lid. If using a cake tin, cover with a double layer of kitchen foil. Place in a bain-marie and bake in the oven for about 75 minutes at 180°C. Remove from the oven and leave to go cold. Refrigerate until required. To serve, turn the terrine out of its dish and use a serrated knife to cut across into slices about 15-17mm thick. Serve with lemon and Dijon mustard mayonnaise.
Main course: Duck confit with gooseberry and white onion relish
Ingredients
8 whole legs (and thighs) of duck
A few juniper berries
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
A few dried bay leaves
A handful of coarse sea salt (Maldon is brilliant)
A couple of spoons of whole black peppercorns
250g duck fat
Method
Prepare the legs by trimming off any scruffy edges of skin (add these to the fat during cooking). Take a sharp knife and cut around the drumstick just above the scaly bit to release the fleash from the bone. Scrape back the flesh a little and either cop off the knuckle with a cleaver or use your hands to break away at the joint.
Use a pestle and mortar to crush the peeled and sliced garlic into a pulp with a little sea salt. Rub this all over the duck legs.
Gently crush the juniper berries and set aside in a bowl. Now crush the peppercorns and add to the juniper berries with the remaining sea salt, thyme and broken bay leaves. Mix this altogether and then coat the duck legs, pressing the herbs and aromatics into the skin and flesh with your hands. Pile the duck legs tightly together in a large dish, cover with clingfilm (to prevent your fridge from stinking of the mixture for months afterwards), and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. The salt will draw moisture out of the meat.
Before cooking, wash off all the salt and aromatics under running cold water and dry the legs with paper kitchen towels. Pack the duck legs into a large ovenproof dish, cover completely with melted duck fat and roast at 140 degrees (gas mark 3) for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. During this time, all the molecules of water within the meat will be replaced with duck fat and this forms the preservative.
To preserve
The fat will not set at room temperature so when cool, pack the legs into sterilised and completely dry preserving jars and cover with the liquid duck fat. Seal the jars and store in a cool dark place until required.
Use disposable plastic gloves while you remove most of the fat from the duck legs. Place the legs into a hot pan and render off most of the fat. Drain on kitchen paper then lay them in a roasting dish and place into a very hot over for ten minutes to heat through and crisp up the skin.
Serve with slices of rustic bread that have been toasted, rubbed with garlic and salt and dressed with extra virgin olive oil. The accompaniment to the duck confit is a delightfully simple gooseberry and white onion relish. The acid of the gooseberries cutting through the greasiness if the meat to make very good eating.
2 whole white onions peeled and finely chopped
800g green gooseberries, topped and tailed
150ml white wine vinegar
25g unsalted butter
Heaped tablespoon wholegrain Dijon mustard
Heaped tablespoon caster sugar
Salt and white pepper
A few picked leaves of thyme
Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently cook the onions without colouring. Pour in the vinegar and allow to reduce a little before adding the gooseberries, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes turning gently with a spoon until the gooseberries are just cooked but before they collapse. Sprinkle with the thyme leaves and serve warm with the duck confit.
Dessert: Ravani – orange scented semolina cake soaked with syrup and brandy
This fabulous sweet and fragrant cake originates in ancient Constantinople but has been adopted by the Greeks who have refined the recipe. Today it is prepared in Greece for special family occasions.
Ingredients
100g plain flour
3 eggs - separated
100g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter – at room temperature
50g fine semolina
3 teaspoons baking powder
50g ground almonds
The juice and finely pared zest of two oranges
For the syrup
150g sugar
2 cups water
Finely grated lemon peel
A little lemon juice
Stick of cinnamon
2-3 cloves
Method
Cream together the butter and half the sugar until pale and soft. Add the egg yolks one at a time, incorporating well before the next is added. Stir in the orange juice and zest, semolina, baking powder and flour.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and then gradually beat in the other half of the sugar. Beat one tablespoon of the meringue into the cake base to loosen the mix then carefully fold in the remainder of the meringue using a metal spoon.
Butter a baking dish and dust with flour. Put the mixture in the dish and bake at about 160C for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut the cake in the dish into serving portions and leave to cool down. If liked, decorate the top of each portion with half a blanched almond.
To make the syrup, place all the ingredients into a saucepan, cook to dissolve the sugar and carry on cooking for 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon and cloves before spooning the syrup over the cooled cake. The cake may be served after about an hour but it improves if kept overnight.
Ravani may be eaten on its own or accompanied by vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or frozen yoghurt.
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